1. Field
This disclosure is generally related to data encryption. More specifically, this disclosure is related to a method and apparatus for gathering statistical data from a set of participants without compromising their privacy.
2. Related Art
Many data-processing applications require a data aggregator to gather and process data from a collection of different sources. For example, a research institution conducting studies on weather patterns may wish to deploy specialized sensors at a variety of key locations. However, if the land for some of these key locations is owned by corporations such as manufacturing plants, it is unlikely that these corporations would want information to be gathered from their land in case this information proves to be damaging. Moreover, even if the data aggregator promises to delete the raw information after determining the aggregate statistics across all participating sites, it is likely that some of these participating sites will not trust the aggregator with the raw data at all.
Similarly for other applications, the set of participants can include organizations or individuals that may not trust the data aggregator with their personal information. This poses a significant problem for research and business applications that stand to benefit from statistical data culled from a large sample of participants. Therefore, these data-processing applications face the challenge of gathering statistical data from a multitude of participants while still protecting the privacy of these participants.